Sunday, May 30, 2010

We're featuring brain evolution in the upcoming edition

The next edition of Carnival of Evolution will be on NeuroDojo in just a few days (June 1st). Zen Faulkes will be featuring posts anything related to brain evolution prominently in this edition, but I fear that not very many bloggers are writing about brain evolution, so here are a few pointers for those with enough enthusiasm.

The RIKEN Brain Science Institute in Japan has lots of resources on brains, including this primer on brain basics and evolution:
Through the course of evolution, the brain has undergone considerable changes. In many invertebrates, such as worms, the nervous system consists of no more than a net or bundle of nerve cells. In fish, amphibians, and reptiles, the brain is a well-developed organ consisting of several distinct structures, such as the cerebellum, tectum, and basal ganglia. These structures are specialized for different basic functions, such as detecting visual patterns, generating walking or swimming movements, generating reflexive responses, and so on. Mammal brains also contain many of these primitive structures, so scientists can understand many aspects of our own brain function by studying these areas in other animals.
Journals on brain evolution: Brain, Behavior and Evolution | Brain | Current Anthropology | Journal of the History of the Neurosciences | Frontiers in Evolutionary Neuroscience

There's plenty, so get crackin'! Submit one (good) or two (better) posts on anything about evolution, and particularly about brain evolution, through this online form.

No comments:

Post a Comment